Project: http://www.eomaha.com/gallery/develop/94
From the World Herald...
Location cries for more retail
Months of Planning Board meetings reinforced for developers' attorney Jerry Slusky that the next project of his own is in the right location.
During the last six months, Slusky said, he saw 20 new housing subdivisions win approval, promising as many as 20,000 single-family homes in an area stretching from West Dodge Road to Gretna between 168th and 204th Streets.
"That land's all in developers' hands," Slusky said, "and there's nowhere for those people to shop unless they come to (West) Center (Road)."
Slusky and his development partner, John Hoich, are planning to add to that shopping experience with a project that broke ground Thursday after winning Omaha City Council approval Tuesday.
The Tivoli project at 175th Street and West Center Road will fill in the 13 acres between Western Springs, which features a SuperTarget, and Lakeside Hills, which has Alegent Health buildings and a shopping center with a Baker's Supermarket.
The area also has a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a Lowe's home improvement store.
Slusky said Tivoli will feature distinctive lighting, generous landscaping and outdoor plazas. It targets upscale tenants to add to the area's mix.
Attracting tenants should be easy, Slusky said. He estimates the average household income within a mile of the project at $129,798 and, within five miles, at $109,942. An estimated 129,844 people live within five miles.
Already, Slusky said, two of the project's 13 lots are 80 percent preleased. He declined to name the tenants but said they include three restaurants, an exercise equipment shop and an ice cream store. All but the ice cream store are new to Omaha, Slusky said.
A third lot is under contract for a large, 12,000-square-foot restaurant that Slusky said is not new to Omaha but is widely known regionally and "wants to be located in this hot new area."
Preliminary talks are under way for a medical office building , and developers are working to lure a hotel, he said.
The goal, Slusky said, is for all the lots - arranged around a circular drive - to work together as a place that offers more than shopping. He expects people to come to Tivoli for outdoor dining and concerts and to find convenient parking as well as easy pedestrian access to the nearby lake, health facilities and stores.
"It's going to be an attraction, not just a shopping experience," Slusky said.
The project's name and design were inspired by the Tivoli garden area in Copenhagen, Denmark, known for its landscaping by day and lighting at night.
"You're driving and it's not just asphalt and parking, it's gardens and green. At night it's not just lights and asphalt and cars. It will be lit up quite dramatically. . . . It glows."
Omaha Assistant Planning Director Steve Jensen said the city required the project to be pedestrian friendly and offer such amenities as seating, shade and places to hold community gatherings as a condition of changing the master plan.
Slusky said the project is expected to cost more than $20 million when built out over the next three years. Construction is to begin as soon as building permits are issued, he said, and the first Tivoli businesses should open shortly after the first of next year.
